Skip to main content

What’s So Bold about $9.00 an Hour?

By Colin Gordon and John Schmitt Dissent
The takeaway from all of this is simple: even the low benchmarks suggested here (one half the average production wage, the poverty level for a family of two, simply recapturing the minimum’s 1968 value) come in at more than $9.00. The benchmarks that actually sustain the value of the minimum or tie it to economic growth over time come in at close to twice that.

Scalia's Weird VRA Spat

By Scott Lemieux The American Prospect
After today's oral arguments on Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, it seems unlikely that the Supreme Court's conservative wing will want to uphold the landmark win for civil rights.

Elba Esther Gordillo – Mexico's Famed Union Boss – Accused of Embezzlement

By Jo Tuckman in Mexico City The Guardian
She is known simply as The Teacher, a union boss of such legendary influence that she was credited with putting a president in office and, until this week, so untouchable she flaunted her apparently dubious wealth with abandon. Now Elba Esther Gordillo is behind bars over the alleged embezzlement of stratospheric amounts of union funds.

Media bits and bytes - Grab Bag Edition

Published by Portside
Don't Unlock Your Cellphone; Cable Soon to be Obsolete; Time-Warner Divorces Time Magazine; Minority Media Ownership Way Down; Hewlett Improves Conditions for its Chinese Workers; Amazon Polices Immigrant Workers with Neo-Nazi Guards; FCC Building Free Universal WiFi - Not!; Still No TV Cameras for SCOTUS; Technology & Democracy; Clicktivism & Unions; Journalists Under Attack; Zombies Hack Emergency Alert System; More

Why Workers Should Be Wary About Corporate Wellness

By Steve Early The Nation
Corporate America has long been shifting the burden of medical costs onto workers. Now, under the banner of health promotion, management is making some workers pay more for their insurance based on individual differences in their medical condition or lack of adherence to "wellness" standards.

A Protest Resignation

Serena Golden Inside Higher Ed
The eminent University of Chicago anthropologist Marshall Sahlins resigned from the National Academy of Sciences on Friday, citing his objections to its military partnerships and to its electing as a member Napoleon Chagnon, a long-controversial anthropologist who is back in the news thanks to the publication of his new book, Noble Savages.

Obama Urged to Heed Warnings of 'Palestine on Fire'

Lauren McCauley Common Dreams
In the wake of the death of detained Palestinian Arafat Jaradat, officials with the Palestinian Authority have issued a warning to President Obama that Palestine could be "on fire" during his upcoming visit to the region if he does not exert pressure on longtime ally Israel regarding the ongoing treatment of prisoners.

‘Demographics’ Are Not Simply Passive Numbers, They Also Often Rise Up and Rebel

Bill Fletcher, Jr. Progressive America Rising
What was most striking about the 2012 election, then, was that in the face of this attack on our right to vote, there was something akin to a popular revolt by the African American and Latino electorate. Latinos voted over 70% for Obama and African Americans over 93%. What happened in the 2012 election was very much about demographics. African Americans, Latinos and Asians turned out in significant numbers, voting overwhelmingly for the Democrats.